Freediving: Discover the Secrets of the Reef
Article by Joel Simon

Sheila was mesmerized. Scarcely ten feet below her, a large coral head was teeming with life: little green sponges, a black crinoid, darting damsel fish, and a large pink-tipped anemone, all easily visible. Then she noticed two dark red "sticks" emerging from under a ledge. They wiggled. As I swam over to her side, she asked me what those might be. Why not take a closer look, I suggested.

Despite years as an enthusiastic snorkeler, Sheila had never left the surface. She isn’t alone. Many snorkelers are content to float effortlessly above the splendor of shallow tropical reefs, enjoying the abundant marine life below. And for many, this constitutes a perfect relaxing day in paradise. But as Sheila noticed, marine life can be cryptic, hidden, or small, and curiosity may motivate taking a closer look. Here’s how.

Surface diving isn’t difficult, but it takes some practice. There are countless ways to approximate a surface dive, and beginning students are a great (and sometimes amusing) source of innovation. Especially in salt water, our bodies are buoyant, which thankfully makes floating easy. Submerging, however, requires a deliberate effort.

Begin by relaxing at the surface, breathing normally. Sometimes it’s helpful to have a destination in mind. Remember Sheila’s dark red sticks. Two or three deep normal breaths will help to send more oxygen to your muscles and minimize CO2, a practice sometimes called hyperventilation. Next, take a breath and hold it. The most common way to leave the surface is to bend at the waist, so your head is pointing down, nearly straight down. This will make it easy to lift your legs above your head; often they may stick out of the water and into the air. Their weight, along with a gentle sweep of your arms should start your downward motion, which you can continue by kicking your legs .... once they are back in the water!

Everyone’s buoyancy in the water differs depending on personal build. For some snorkelers, wearing a light weight belt (usually 2 to 4 pounds) helps them descend. If you wear a wet suit, a weight belt will help balance the suit’s added buoyancy.

I’m frequently told by snorkeling students that they would love to dive down, but every time they try, their ears hurt so much they can’t. There’s a good reason for this pain, and fortunately there’s an easy solution: equalizing your ears. As soon as you head down, put a hand to the nosepiece of your mask, and squeeze your nostrils closed. For masks without a nosepiece, push up on the underside to block your nasal passages. At the same time, try to gently blow some air through your nose--of course no air should come out because of your squeezed nostrils. This will equalize your ears and you should continue the process as long as you are descending. If you feel any pain, come up and try again. This procedure is only needed when going down, not up. Sometimes ears may equalize by just wiggling your jaw. Occasionally, ears may not equalize at all. Mucus congestion, caused by a cold, for example, can seriously impede the process. Some people successfully use off-the-shelf decongestants to facilitate "sticky" ears. Equalizing your ears is a necessary part of surface diving, and when done early and often will prevent any pain or damage to your eardrums.

Now that you’re on your way down, stay relaxed! The more relaxed you are, the longer you can stay down. As muscles expand and contract, they use oxygen and produce CO2. Bigger muscles and greater exertion use more air. The more you can relax your muscles, especially your legs, and conserve energy, the more you can reduce this form of respiration, and extend your dive time. You will also notice that with depth, your buoyancy actually decreases. As you go deeper, the weight of the water will compress your lungs, and your wetsuit if you’re wearing one, decreasing your displacement, and effectively making you "heavier." Although it may have been difficult at first to descend, once you’re there, it’s much easier to stay down.

When you’ve reached your intended destination, relax, take a look around and enjoy the sights. One useful technique is to look for a piece of dead reef or a rock. Being careful not to disturb any living coral, you can gently grasp the dead reef between your thumb and forefinger. This delicate energy-conserving two-finger handhold should give you the needed control to maneuver your entire body, allowing you to completely relax your large, air-consuming leg muscles.

When you ascend, watch where you are going. Although this sounds silly, it’s amazing how many times, in an area the size of an ocean, either your buddy, or the boat happens to be directly overhead! Many snorkelers take the extra precaution of an outstretched arm on ascent. Upon arrival at the surface, you’ll probably be ready for that welcome gasp of fresh air. But remember, your snorkel is full of water! First you must clear your snorkel and the easiest way is with a burst of air from your lungs. One good burst should do the trick, but never trust that your snorkel is completely empty. After clearing, breathe in cautiously and make sure that the air flow is clean. Only then can you safely go ahead and breathe to your lungs’ and heart’s content.

With many, but not all, snorkels, you can actually displace the water during your ascent. If you are looking up, your snorkel should be "pointing" down. By breathing out as you approach the surface, your snorkel will fill with air, thereby displacing the water. In theory, when you reach the surface, your snorkel should be clear and ready to give you that much needed breath of fresh air. Try this technique with your snorkel and see if it works for you.

With the advent of new snorkel designs, especially purge valves, clearing out the water is easier than ever before. Regardless of your particular snorkel, it’s always a good idea to confirm a clear air flow before gasping with gusto.

As you become better accustomed to your breath holding abilities, there’s another trick that can make it easier to descend. Some snorkelers, after breathing several times on the surface, prefer to take only a partial lung full of air down with them. Since their lungs aren’t filled, their buoyancy is less, making that initial descent more effortless. It’s up to you. Personally, I like having as much air with me as possible.

Remember that snorkeling, like SCUBA diving, is best done with a buddy. Generally, when surface diving, one buddy goes down while the other watches from the surface, and vice versa, alternating the activity.

Snorkeling is a training, so don’t get discouraged if it feels a bit awkward at the start. Your free-diving skills will improve with practice. The more surface diving you do, the better you’ll be able to estimate how long you can stay down. The variables are endless: water temperature and conditions, how relaxed, excited, tired or cold you might be, and of course, your individual metabolism. Everyone is different. As your breath management improves, you will also recognize that you don’t need to take advantage of every last second of air. There’s little point in driving yourself to your free-diving limits. It’s more comfortable, far more enjoyable, and safer if you return to the surface before you absolutely need to.

Speaking of limits, people commonly ask how deep can they go? Obviously, this differs with each individual. The world free-diving record is now over 400 feet!* Admittedly, sometimes it’s fun to surface dive just for the sake of it. One of the great joys of being in the water is the freedom to move in all three dimensions. Just remember, however deep you go, eventually, we’d like you back.

Most snorkelers enjoy surface diving because it allows them to more closely examine the shallow reef. Many of the most fascinating creatures--Christmas tree worms, nudibranchs, and brittle stars are small, cryptic, or concealed beneath ledges. Juvenile and other small fish often dwell in the coral crevices, and nocturnal fish are found hiding by day under coral outcroppings. Anemones often shelter small shrimps in their tentacles. Surface diving gives us, as snorkelers, the opportunity to examine these and other tropical delights for ourselves.

Remember Sheila and her dark red "sticks"? After a few surface diving trials, Sheila dove and, hanging upside down, examined those sticks for herself. And they examined her back! She returned to the surface, hardly the relaxed, composed snorkeler of a few moments before. Extracting her snorkel, her eyes as big as pizzas, she exclaimed: "It’s a lobster, a HUGE lobster!! After that, we only saw Sheila when she came up for air.